Risk (Gentry Boys #2) (25 page)

I smiled at her, then wrapped my arms around her waist.  “Come help me.” 

Truly

Creedence needed a lot of ‘help’, first in the shower, and then in his bedroom.   I wasn’t complaining though.  Afterwards I quietly zipped my dress closed, watching him as he threw some clothes in a bag.  He had a big smile on his face, whether from relief over the recent turn of events or just because he’d had three good orgasms in half an hour. 

“Thank you,” I said. 

He glanced at me.  “This time I think you did more for me than I did for you.”

“Not true.  And I wasn’t talking about that.  I mean thank you for agreeing to come with me.” 

He looked surprised.  “I
want
to be with you, Truly.  Didn’t I make that clear?”

I smoothed my dress over my legs.  “I guess I still need to hear it a few more times before it sinks in.” 

Creed hobbled over to me.  He was still shirtless.  The stitched up gash in his face gave him an altogether ferocious appearance but his eyes were gentle.  He kissed my lips and then pulled back slightly.  “I want to be with you, baby,” he whispered. 

I slipped my arms around him.  “I want to be with you too.”

He held me tighter and kissed me more deeply.  I wiggled away, laughing.  “We’ll never get out of here if we keep this up.”

“One more time,” he begged, smiling as he pulled down his pants because he already knew he would win.  I never could say no to that boy.

Finally I got him out the door.  When I tried to bring his crutches along he grabbed them and tossed them over the patio wall. 

“Macho shit,” I muttered, rolling my eyes. 

He laughed and tried to take my keys. 

I held them out of his reach.  “You can’t drive with your knee like that.” 

“I’ll use my left foot.” 

“Seriously, Creedence.  I’ll drive.” 

“Okay,” he agreed.  “Just this once you can drive.” 

“Thank you Master, for granting your permission so generously and allowing me to pilot my own vehicle.  I do hope lil’ old me can manage on my own.” 

He pulled me close with a serious look on his face.  “You’re
not
on your own, honey.  You never will be as long as I’m around.” 

I bit my lip.  “Dammit, there’s just no getting irritated with you.  You’ve got me, Creed, and you know it.” 

After he climbed grudgingly into the passenger seat and we got on the road, Creed started talking more than he ever had.  He still didn’t mention the fight but he told me about what happened with Chase last night.  Then he opened up about his early life in Emblem and what it meant to grow up among people who’d already made up their minds that he was worthless.

“Fucking and fighting,” he said with some bitterness.  “They say that’s all we white trash Gentry men know how to do.” 

I reached over and touched his arm.  He smiled and looked out the window.   All at once his mood improved and he started telling funny stories about Chase and Cord.  I didn’t miss the way his voice lightened when he talked about his brothers.  They were the world to him. 

Creed waited until we were over the New Mexico state line before he asked me why we were going to Oklahoma. 

“My sister’s there.”

“Which one?”

“Augusta.”

Creed nodded.  “She was standing next to you in the picture.  Does she know I’m coming with you?”

“Actually, she doesn’t even know
I’m
coming.”

Creed digested that in silence.  He might have noticed the way my hands tightened around the steering wheel.  I really didn’t know what kind of greeting I would get from Aggie.  But after leaving Creed’s side last night I realized I couldn’t really move forward until I had mended the past.  It was time to tell her everything.  It was time to try and reclaim the bond we’d once shared. 

The sun had long since vanished by the time we reached Albuquerque.  We found a Holiday Inn and in typical Gentry fashion, Creedence paid for the room and ignored me when I tried to object. 

I was still arguing as he opened the door to the room.  “You should let me pay you back.” 

He threw our bags inside and seized me.  I felt his lips on my neck and my body’s usual response to his touch.

“Pay me back another way,” he murmured in my ear. 

“Yes, sir,” I said, stepping out of my dress as he closed the door. 

An hour later, as I straddled his hard body and moved the way his hands demanded me to, I looked down into his eyes.  It was an intense moment as I felt myself climbing higher and higher while he remained huge as a goddamn cannon.  I couldn’t help the words coming out of my mouth.  I was hell and gone crazy about this man.  I told him so as the spasm wracked my body. 

After he shuddered and groaned he pulled me down on his chest.  His hands traveled lightly over my sweaty skin. 

“This is the first time for me,” he said in a slightly awed voice.

“Hardly,” I smiled. 

Creed tugged on my hair.  “Wiseass.  I meant this is the first time I’ve ever felt like this.”

In a brief flash I saw all the men I’d ever thought I loved.  It never was love, not really.  I was just so hungry to find love and wanted it so desperately.  Yet it never found me until I’d stopped looking for it.

“Me too,” I said honestly and hugged him harder.  “Me too, Mr. Gentry.” 

He rolled on top of me.  I touched his swollen face as he stared at me solemnly. 

“Truly, I’m going to make damn sure it’s the only time too.” 

Then he kissed me one more time and dropped his head on my chest as I stroked the back of his neck.  We fell asleep like that until morning. 

Once we were on the road again I began to get a little nervous. Maybe Augusta had no interesting in opening old wounds.  Maybe she didn’t even want to see me. 

Yes, she will.

“That’s some sky,” commented Creed, opening the window and poking his head out. 

I knew what he meant.  The Oklahoma landscape was so flat, the horizon so vast, that the sky seemed unusually huge.  We passed a sign telling us that Stillwater was only another ten miles.  Down the road, a different sign bore the name of the university in orange and black. 

The school itself was as idyllic and picturesque as a film.  I half expected a vibrant homecoming parade to march right past us as I parked the car in a small lot on the edge of campus.   Creed took my hand when I exhaled thickly. 

“Just call her,” he said. 

“I guess I’ll have to,” I grumbled.  “I’m not sure where she lives.” 

As I dialed and listened to the sound of the phone ringing, I realized I still had no idea what to say to my sister. 

“Aggie?” I said in a cracked voice when I heard a click on the other end. 

An unbearably tense moment followed when I blurted out that I was right there at her school. 

“Here?” she said incredulously.  “You drove out from Arizona just like that?”

“I did.”

“What for?”

I swallowed.  “To see you, Ags.  I want to see you.  I’m sorry it took me so long to get around to it.”  I waited for her to say something in return.  Her silence was killing me.  “Augusta, do you want to see me?  You don’t have to.” 

“Truly!” she gasped.  “Are you serious?  Of course I want to see you!”

A slow smile spread across my face.  “No need to yell, sis.” 

Ten minutes later Creed and I were standing beneath the towering arms of a cottonwood tree, waiting for my sister to find us.  Creed leaned against the wide trunk and winced. 

“Your knee hurting?”

He wouldn’t admit it.  “Nope.”  He squinted past me and smiled.  “There she is.” 

My sister was wearing jeans and a school t-shirt.  I was surprised to see a man at her side.  He was nearly as big as Creed, dark-skinned, and wearing cowboy boots.  He put an arm around her shoulder and she squeezed his waist for a second.  Then our eyes locked and Augusta froze. 

“Aggie,” I whispered. 

She broke into a sudden run.  The man who was with her stopped walking.  He simply stared as Aggie and I collided.  I tried to find some words but all I could do was cry in her arms as she cried in mine. 

“I missed you,” I finally whispered as I was besieged by a thousand warm memories. 

“Every day,” she whispered back, wiping the tears out of her eyes.  She smiled at me shyly.  The last time I saw her she had been only midway through the awkward phase of her teenage years.  Now she was a lovely young woman.  The man who’d hung back a little at our greeting came forward and stood beside her.  She looked up at him and smiled. 

“Thought you said boys were trouble,” I teased her. 

“Most are,” she answered, putting her hands on her hips.  She gestured behind me.  “That one sure looks like trouble.” 

Creed took that as his cue to limp over.  He waited for me to introduce him.

“Creedence Gentry, this is my sister, Augusta Lee.” 

She looked him up and down.  “I’m happy to meet you, Creedence.  My sister beat the crap out of you, or what?”

“She could if she wanted to,” Creed said cheerfully, and extended his hand.  Aggie shook it and turned to the man at her side. 

“This is Eric.  We’re…”  Aggie seemed suddenly flustered as Eric stepped up. 

“I’m her guy even if she’s not quite used to it yet.”  He draped an arm around my sister and grinned at me.  He looked me straight in the eye without an ounce of shyness.  “I’m glad to meet one of Augusta’s sisters.”  

“Eric’s a senior.  He’s in the veterinary program too.” 

Eric glanced down at her and I could see in his face that he was a man who knew what he wanted.  And he wanted my sister.  He looked at each of us, taking stock of the situation quickly.  Then he nodded to Creed. 

“What do you say we grab some lunch and give the ladies a chance to talk?”  He smiled.  “I can tell you everything you never wanted to know about cattle.  My family’s ranch is not twenty miles from here.  There’s a place here in Stillwater that gets their beef from us.  I swear it’s the best goddamn hamburger you’ll ever eat.” 

Creed looked down at his leg doubtfully.   “As long as I don’t have to hike there.”

Eric shrugged.  “I’ve got my truck around the corner.  I’ll bring it around and toss you in the back.” 

“Toss me?” Creed growled and Eric laughed. 

“No offense, man.  I’ll be right back.”  He winked at Aggie and turned, walking in the direction they had come from.

Creed tried his best to make small talk with my sister but he seemed almost relieved when Eric returned with a gigantic orange Dodge pickup truck. 

Eric poked his head out the window.  “Hey, you don’t really have to sit in the back.” 

“I don’t mind,” Creed said, stretching out in the bed of the pickup. 

“I’ve still got a shitload of hay back there.” 

“I like hay,” Creed answered and thumped the side of the truck.  “Giddy up.”

Eric looked at me.  “I promise I’ll bring him back.”  His expression got real soft when he glanced at Aggie.  “Give me a call if you want us to stay gone longer than an hour.” 

Aggie seemed suddenly anxious.  She was biting a nail.  “Thank you,” she said softly. 

Creed waved from the back of the pickup as Eric drove away.  I figured I didn’t need to worry about him; Eric seemed like he could keep up enough conversation for the two of them. 

My sister tried to sound lighthearted.  She pointed at Creed.   “You didn’t say anything about that.” 

I jerked my head in the same direction.  “Well, you didn’t say anything about
that
.” 

She hugged her arms around her body and became somber.  “I guess we don’t know a hell of a lot about each other anymore.” 

“No,” I agreed.  “And I hate that.” 

Augusta sat down on the curb.  I sat down next to her.  She sighed.  I knew she was going to bring up the past.  It was okay.  I was ready to talk about it. 

“You know, I asked you once if there was anything going on between you and
him
. Mason. You told me there wasn’t.” 

“I lied,” I said flatly. 

“You lied,” she nodded.  “You’d never lied to me before.  I knew you were lying.” 

“Wasn’t exactly proud of myself.” 

“No, and you shouldn’t have been.”  She made a face.  “This is wrong.  It’s been four years.  This isn’t how our reunion should go, Truly.” 

“It’s okay.  You can ask me anything you want to ask me, Aggie.  You can say whatever you need to say to me.”

She looked at me.  “You’re so beautiful, Tru.  Even more now than you were then.  That’s what drove Mama crazy.  She was so jealous she couldn’t see straight and you didn’t even realize it.  Carrie and I knew.  Mia was always lost in herself.  But
you
never knew, did you?”

I did.  Somehow I always did.  Somewhere around the time I turned thirteen it seemed she stopped looking at me altogether, like the sight of me hurt her too much.